HID Global launched its new cloud-based credential issuance solution for cards and mobile IDs under the name HID FARGO Connect. It supports secure issuance and personalization without the need for dedicated PCs driving local printers. Instead FARGO printers become edge devices on the Internet, protected by a dedicated console that acts as the secure element between the cloud and the printers.

With the new cloud-based credential issuance environment, customers are greeted as they enter the office by a staff member in a manner reminiscent to the Apple Store model

According to an article in CR80News, “by replacing the old paradigm of standalone printers tied to dedicated PC workstations, this new offering enables secure personalization of ID cards from any location and from any web-enabled device. It lets system administrators remotely monitor and manage consumables, as well as introduces greater visibility into the entire credential issuance process.”

There are more than one million FARGO printers in use around the world and this new solution is set to change those deployed devices from standalone printers into “smart, secure, web-enabled edge devices for the Internet of Trusted Things,” explains Craig Sandness, Vice President and Managing Director of Secure Issuance with HID Global.

Among the first to deploy and trial the HID FARGO Connect solution is Kent State University in Ohio. The institution’s FLASHCard student ID office used the technology to change the way it issues cards to students and thus change the overall customer experience. In the past students would come to the office, wait in a line to have their photo taken and initiate the card personalization process. Next they’d wait in another line to receive the finished card once it had printed from a local card printer connected to a PC.

With the new cloud-based credential issuance environment, customers are greeted as they enter the office by a staff member in a manner reminiscent to the Apple Store model. Their photo and perso data are collected on the spot and sent to the cloud. Finally all data required to issue the finished card is encrypted and sent to the secure console for final dispatch to one of the available FARGO printers. The customer is met on the floor and handed the finished credential.

Learn more about how HID FARGO Connect works and hear from Kent State University’s ID program, an early implementer of the technology in this article.